Electric-light fixture



(No Model.)

L. MCCARTHY.

BLEGTRIG LIGHT FIXTURE.

No. 586,317. Patented July 13,1897.

Witnesses: Inventor.-

aflorneys.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS MCCARTHY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC -LIG HT FIXTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,317, dated July 13, 1897.

Application filed March 18, 1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS MCCARTHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Light Fixtures, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

It is common in the case of electroliers and other fixtures used for the support of electric lamps to employ an interior supporting-pipe or the like and an exterior ornamental sheathin g or casin g, including aso-called canopy, which is located at the ceiling or wall, the said canopy inclosing and concealing the usual insulating-joint, which is located next the ceiling or wall. It happens sometimes that the wires become bared of their insulating-clothin g and that the bared portions come in contact with the metal-work of the electrolier or fixture below the said joint. This will constitute a source of leakage and diversion of the current whenever the canopy is electrically grounded through the ceiling or wall. The possibilities in this respect have more recently become of special importance, inasmuch as at the present time metalsfor instance, steelare employed very extensively in the construction of buildings, particularly office-buildings, and are embodied to a considerable extent in the ceilings, walls, 630., thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide against any electrical communication between the canopy and the adjacent ceiling, wall, or other support for the electrolier or fixture; and to this end the invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with the canopy, of a means of insulating the said canopy from the ceiling, wall, or other support, all as hereinafter will be explained.

The invention will be described first with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which is represented the best embodiment thereof which I have yet contrived, and afterward the distinguishing characteristics thereof will be more particularly pointed out and distinctly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

The form in which I prefer to embody my Serial No. 628,082. (No model.)

invention is that shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in vertical cross-section of the upper portion of an electrolier having my invention applied thereto, while Fig. 2 is a face view of the insulating disk, ring, or plate, which is hereinafter described.

1 is the ceiling to which the electrolier is attached,and constitutes the support therefor.

2 is a crow-foot bracket affiXed to the ceiling and provided with a threaded aperture, into which is screwed a block or short section of pipe 3, which has a screw-thread 1 on its lower end. In some instances in practice the place of the crow-foot and block or pipe 3 is taken by a projecting portion of gas-piping. The screw-thread 4 screws into the upper member 5 of the insulated joint.

6 is the lower member of the same joint, and the parts 5 and 6 are inclosed in a block 7 of insulating material. Into the lower member 6 of this joint is screwed a pipe 71, projecting downward and supporting the lamp portion of the electrolier or chandelier. The pipe 71 is surrounded by a sleeve 8. The electric wires 9 10 are brought down around the insulated joint and through small holes 11 12 in the sleeve 8 and then down in the annular space between the sleeve 8 and the pipe 71 to the lamps. Surrounding the sleeve 8 is the smaller end of the canopy 13, which latter extends upward in bell shape. The canopy is secured to the sleeve 8 by a setscrew 18, as usual.

The foregoing parts are or may be as usual and may be'of any usual or preferred construction, character, and arrangement.

An intermediate disk, ring, or plate 15 of insulating material is applied to the upper edge let of the canopy 13, it being interposed between the said edge and the surface of the ceiling 1, this intermediate disk, ring, or plate being constructed of a slightly-greater diameter than that of the upper edge of the canopy. This intermediate disk, ring, or plate 15 preferably is formed with a plurality of annular ridges 16, having grooves 17 alternating with the same. In one of the said grooves (herein shown as the outermost one, but the particular groove which is occupied depending upon the diameter of the canopy) and disposed properly on the surface of the disk, is the equivalent of a ridge.

The intermediate disk, ring, or plate is provided with several concentric ridges and grooves 17, or the equivalent of such ridges and grooves, so as to be adapted for use with canopies of various diameters of upper edge.

It has been found to occur in practice, as stated in substance hereinbefore, that the insulating covering material of the Wires 9 10 sometimes becomes abraded or removed below the insulating-joint, and the bared portion or portions make electrical contact with those metallic portions of the electrolier or fixture below said joint which the abraded portions of the wire may happen to touch. It has been found that groundings of the current frequently occur, particularly in buildings in which metal enters largely into the construction, as in modern office-buildings and the like, and it has been the purpose of my invention to prevent such groundings. termediate insulating disk, ring, or plate 15 between the ceiling 1 or other support and To this end I have interposed the inthe canopy 13. The illustrated form of disk,

ring, or plate is such that it is supported wholly upon or by the canopy and requires no attachment to or marring of the ceiling or Wall itself. The groove in which the edge of the canopy seats itself supports the insulating disk, ring, or plate securely in a position concentric with that of the canopy.

I claim as my invention 1. In an electric-light fixture, the combination with the ceiling or other support, and the canopy, of an intermediate insulatingdisk between the canopy and ceiling or support, and formed with an annular groove in which the edge of said canopy rests, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described insulating-disk, constructed to beinterposed between the edge of the canopy of an electric-light fixture and a ceiling or other support for said fixture, saiddisk having a plurality of grooves and ridges, or the equivalent thereof, to fit it for application to canopies of different sizes, substantially as described.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS l\IcCARTHY.

IVitnesses:

WM. A. MAoLEoD, CHAS. F. RANDALL. 

